Now Rebelscum has a report up with an explanation from a reader saying that the Wal-Mart exclusive will be similar to the classic Early Bird set in the way that there will be some sort of certificate to send in (by May 30, the report says) in order to receive four exclusive figures. Nothing real concrete, but that's a few more details. You would think we would get more solid word on this via Hasbro's updates or something, since it is one week away now. You would think the retailers would definitely want the word out if they have an exclusive.

It sounds to me that Wal-Mart heard Target and TRU were getting an exclusive so they wanted one to. Or they could never agree with Hasbro on an exclusive until recently. They must have finally worked something out at the last instant here.

Didn't the same thing happen with WM and those Clone Wars Clonetrooper two packs? Something was thought up of at the last moment so that WM would carry the Clone Wars line. My memory is fuzzy but it was something along those lines.

That's just my guess. I really have no idea but that's probably why nobody knows much about this exclusive.

It's going to explode even worse if I have to grab a "packaged" and loose one of these. So I guess I need to know some more details on the figures that'll eventually be included, and whether they're really going to be exclusive to this particular set.

You know, in this day and age, the "Early Bird" concept is completely and totally asinine. The whole reason it was done in 1977 was because Kenner didn't have anything ready because they underestimated demand. Also, back in the day, there wasn't anything else on the shelves at all, so the concept wasn't such a bad one (if a bit audacious).

Now, they're going to have thousands of toys in a single aisle at Wal-Mart that mom and dad can actually buy for their kids *right now* and they decide to sell an envelope with a coupon for 30 bucks to this same parent for their kid? As much as I love SW, with my current financial situation (which will only worsen by this time in two weeks), I can't justify paying 30 bucks for a piece of paper that says I'll get something in six weeks. I can only imagine that parents will feel even more adamant about this.

The Early Bird offer in 1977 is now infamous (and hell, Gary Kurtz even points out how audacious it was on the "Empire of Dreams" documentary) because it offered something that was in great demand but in short supply. An Early Bird offer in 2005 is even more audacious because it is offering something that has dwindling demand and an absolute metric ton of supply.

As for the Clone Wars thing, the Clone two-packs were done at the last moment because WM was threatening Hasbro with not carrying the line (at that point it was thought to be an entirely separate line and case assortment from the regular assortments). Hasbro kind of extended the olive branch by giving them that exclusive two-pack thing, but WM still did not carry the vehicles or deluxe figures for the CW line: only the basic figures and the lightsabers. How someone at WM, the panderer of all things immediate and cheap, thought that a 30 dollar envelope would be a good idea for an exclusive is beyond me.

It's going to explode even worse if I have to grab a "packaged" and loose one of these. So I guess I need to know some more details on the figures that'll eventually be included, and whether they're really going to be exclusive to this particular set.

Yeah, are the figures carded or not? If they are carded, are they new figures or 4-2 figures in a new package?

Until I know more about what the heck I am buying I don't know if I need 0, 1, or 2 of these things.

I doubt they'd be carded. I'd assume they'd be in the white plastic tray, like in the vintage days, and again recently in the Kubrick line. At least, that's what I would expect if they were really shooting for an "Early Bird" set...

EDIT: Nevermind. You mean will the figures in the Early Bird set wind up on cards as well, I think. Yeah, that's the big question. I'd assume so though.

« Last Edit: March 25, 2005, 02:11 PM by JediMAC »

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SilverZ

Just another theory: Walmart had an exclusive set of figures coming later in the year (along the lines of the Battle Packs), and once they heard TRU and Target had exclusives lined up for launch, they jumped on the bandwagon and found a way to have an exclusive presence on the same day, just coincidentally also allowing them a clever way to milk more cash from customers.

I blame Hasbro for allowing all this horse**** to happen in the first place.

EDIT: Nevermind. You mean will the figures in the Early Bird set wind up on cards as well, I think. Yeah, that's the big question. I'd assume so though.

Yeah, I meant - Are the "early bird figures" the same as other figures we will get eventually, just in a goofy package this time around.

Or is it something as simple as Wal-Mart pre-selling figures III-53 to II-56 that woon't be out at launch? Or maybe even Wal-Mart trying to get a jump on TRU and Target by selling ALL the 56 RotS figures on April 2nd? That'd be something if that is what they are trying to do...

Okay, I'm going to go on the assumption that the Clone thing is true for the rest of this post.

The first thing that came to mind was the EE Clone four packs. Even though I know this (probably) won't be the same thing, I wonder if the high price of the EE packs (and their apparent brisk sales) served as kind of a "How Much Will You Pay?" experiment for Hasbro? And naturally, instead of doing something like this with the Clones as a mass market release, they're doing it as a store exclusive, at a higher price, and using an outdated concept for the "project."

Now, honestly, what would you rather have seen as a mass market release: ROTS Clone four packs in varying colors, or those 5-figure Battle Packs with one rehashed figure after another? Which one would sell more? Sure, the "kids always want the main characters" line will come out, but if you have 20 packs of Grievous/Obi-Wan/Anakin/Yoda/whoever alongside 20 packs of Clones in various colors, how many of the first will be sitting there after a week and how many of the second?

Ten years into this line and Hasbro continues to astound me. Sometimes I just want to write them a really quick Dr. Evil letter that says, "You just don't get it, do you?"